he river, as well as protect the
highroad to Vienna by Landshut.'

'But you forget that Landshut is a good eight leagues from that!' said
he, with a laugh.

'They'll have to fall back there, nevertheless,' said I coolly, 'or they
suffer themselves to be cut off from their own centre.'

'Would you believe it,' whispered Massena to a colonel at his side, 'the
fellow has just guessed our intended movement?'

Low as he spoke, my quick ears caught the words, and my heart thumped
with delight as I heard them. This was the Emperor's strategy--Massena
was to fall impetuously on the enemy's left at Moosburg, and drive them
to a retreat on Landshut; when, at the moment of the confusion and
disorder, they were to be attacked by Napoleon himself, with a vastly
superior force. The game opened even sooner than expected, and a few
minutes after the conversation I have reported, our tirailleurs were
exchanging shots with the enemy. These sounds, however, were soon
drowned in the louder din of artillery, which thundered away at both
sides till nightfall. It was a strange species of engagement, for we
continued to march on the entire time, the enemy as steadily retiring
before us, while the incessant cannonade never ceased.

Although frequently sent to the front with orders, I saw nothing of the
Austrians; a low line of bluish smoke towards the horizon, now and then
flashing into flame, denoted their position, and as we were about as
invisible to them, a less exciting kind of warfare would be difficult
to conceive. Neither was the destruction important; many of the Austrian
shot were buried in the deep clay in our front; and considering the
time, and the number of pieces in action, our loss was insignificant.
Soldiers, if they be not the trained veterans of a hundred battles, grow
very impatient in this kind of operation; they cannot conceive why they
are not led forward, and wonder at the over caution of the general. Ours
were mostly young levies, and were consequently very profuse of their
comments and complaints.

'Have patience, my brave boys,' said an old sergeant to some of the
grumblers; 'I've seen some service, and I never saw a battle open this
way that there wasn't plenty of fighting ere it was over.'

A long, low range of hills bounds the plain to the west of Moosburg, and
on these, as night closed, our bivouac fires were lighted, some of them
extending to nearly half a mile to the left of our real position, and
giving